Ag/Outdoor, Heartbeat Today, Podcasts
Jim Field visits with Griswold-area farmer Josh Bierbaum who was recently honored with a Young Farmer Leadership Award from the Iowa Farm Bureau.
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Step 1: Mix crushed cookies and butter. Press cookie mixture into bottom of an 8″ x 8″ baking pan sprayed with cooking spray.
Step 2: In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and almond extract until smooth.
Step 3: Melt white chocolate in a microwave according to package directions. When melted, pour into cream cheese mixture and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
Step 4: Fold whipped topping into cream cheese mixture.
Step 5: Pour evenly into crust. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
Step 6: Spoon cherry fruit filling on top just before serving.
Jim Field visits with Atlantic Public Library Youth Services Librarian Sue Petersen about the Open Class Art Show.
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The Iowa D-N-R says swimmer’s itch is starting to show up in some Iowa lakes. Environmental specialist, Daniel Kendall, says we see it every year.
Kendall says the flatworm can’t live in a human and they quickly die, causing an allergic reaction below the skin resulting in welts and itching. He says the parasite eggs are spread by bird droppings that hatch in the water and infect snails.
He says swimmer’s itch has turned up in north central and northwest Iowa lakes.
He says there are steps you can take
steps to try and avoid getting the itch.
Kendall says the health risk isn’t major — just uncomfortable.
The welts and itching caused by the parasite can last for several days to about one week and usually don’t require a visit to the doctor. An antihistamine along with calamine lotion can be used to treat the affected areas.
The Environmental Protection Agency has released its final rule for biofuel blending requirements over the next three years, with ethanol production targets that are not as high as initially proposed in December. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says this latest E-P-A decision fails to meet the intent of the Renewable Fuels Standard.
The rule does increase production requirements for biodiesel and renewable diesel, but Naig says those levels are below current usage. The state ag secretary is also accusing the E-P-A of pitting one sector of the renewable fuels industry against another by lowering the ethanol numbers.
Naig says the Biden Administration has failed to support the benefits of renewable fuel production.
Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, says for an administration obsessed with reducing carbon emissions, this rule makes absolutely no sense. Senator Joni Enrst, a Republican from Red Oak, says the Biden Administration is refusing to recognize that biodiesel and ethanol are homegrown cleaner fuel solutions that are available today. The president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association says the proposal fails on all fronts and the head of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says the E-P-A has set up a lose-lose situation for ethanol and biodiesel producers. Critics say the Renewable Fuels Standard diverts too much prime farmland to produce fuel rather than food.
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in Adair and Cass County is offering the Iowa Master Conservationist Program as a joint program between the two county Extension Offices this summer and fall. Classes will take place at local outdoor parks and public areas, providing participants with hands-on interaction with the diversity of the state’s natural resources. The program teaches about Iowa’s natural ecosystems and the diversity of conservation challenges and opportunities that exist in the region. Graduates of the course learn to make informed choices for leading and educating others to improve conservation in Iowa.
The program consists of approximately 12 hours of online curriculum and six face-to-face meetings. The online modules will include lessons and resources by Iowa State subject-matter experts to be reviewed at the participants’ own pace at home or at their local County Extension office. Module topics include conservation history and science, understanding Iowa ecosystems, implementing conservation practices in human dominated landscapes and developing skills to help implement and educate others about conservation practices.
The first hands-on learning program will be a partnership program with Harrison County Extension on Thursday evening June 29th at 5:30 PM. This meeting will take place at Willow Lake Recreational Area, near Woodbine where participants will learn about the different landforms of Iowa, specifically the Loess Hills of Western Iowa and what makes them unique to Iowa and the world! Subsequent meetings will be held at different locations in Adair and Cass County one Tuesday evening per month from July-October of 2023. All local meetings will begin at 6 PM and last from 2-3 hours depending on the topic. Each face-to-face meeting will be led by local subject-matter experts to demonstrate how the principles covered in the online curriculum play out locally.
Registration for the course is $50 per person and is due at the time of registration. To register or with questions, contact the ISU Extension and Outreach office in Adair County at 515-231-2741 or Cass County at 712-243-1132 or visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass or www.extension.iastate.edu/adair for registration forms and details. The deadline to register is Wednesday, June 28th.
Jim Field visits with Cass County Master Gardener Sue Liston about the Tour of Local Gardens on Sunday, June 25.
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The latest U-S-D-A crop report shows increasing drought concerns across Iowa. Only 30 percent of the subsoil moisture was rated adequate and there is zero soil with a surplus. The percentage of topsoil moisture considered short to very short has gone from 25 percent 70 percent in the last month. Iowa State Extension crop systems specialist, Mark Licht (licked), says weekend storms provided a small help to some areas.
Licht says southeast and northwest Iowa are the driest areas and he saw issues in northeast Iowa Tuesday.
Licht says it’s not a time for major concern just yet, as the impacts in the spring from drought stress are minimal compared to later in the growing season.
He says the later stress can lead to a three to five percent per day yield loss. There are predictions June’s weather pattern will turn and we’ll get more rain. Licht says that would turn things around as long as they are not dumping huge amounts of rain all at once.
Licht says the one concern is corn or bean plants that haven’t fully established themselves yet.
The U-S-D-A found the corn condition continued to decline — with 59 percent rated good to excellent — down from 70 percent last week. The soybean condition dropped to 56 percent in good to excellent shape — compared to 66 percent last week.
A group of landowners, lawmakers, and environmentalists are speaking out after the Iowa Utilities Board announced it would move the hearing on the proposed Summit Carbon pipeline from October to August. Anna Ryon, a former attorney with the Iowa Office of Consumer Advocate, says the landowner testimony was moved to first in the hearing along with the change in the date.
Ryon spoke during a conference call hosted by the Sierra Club, and says the new schedule puts the issue on the fast track and will make it tough for landowners to find the help they need.
Ryon says landowners are forced to sort of defend their land against eminent domain before actually hearing the pipeline company’s case.
State Representative Helena (Huh-lay-na) Hayes, a Republican from Mahaska County, says the House did pass a bill 73-20 that did several things, including requiring 90 percent voluntary easements before the I-U-B could grant the eminent domain for pipelines.
The Iowa Senate failed to pass the bill and it didn’t make it out of the session. Hayes says lawmakers who supported the bill plan are drafting a letter to send to state regulators in response to the hearing change.
She says representatives in the Iowa House know there are thousands of people who have not signed on to pipeline easements and she says as a lawmaker she would love to see another session to have more conversations about it. Hayes says this issue goes beyond Iowa, and everyone should keep the big picture in mind.
The Sierra Club’s Jessica Mazour says they are calling for the hearing to be delayed. She says they are concerned that with two new members on the Utilities Board, the new members are unaware of past processes and the detailed work that goes into this decision-making process.
Summit Carbon Solutions released this statement in response:
“Summit Carbon Solutions appreciates the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) establishing a procedural schedule where the public comment and hearing for our project begins in August, with a final permit decision expected to be issued prior the end of the year. This will enable Summit and the farming community to coordinate planting, facilitating construction within a single crop year. To date, Summit has signed more than 2,000 easement agreements with Iowa landowners accounting for 475 miles of our proposed project route in the state. We look forward to continuing to work with Iowa landowners, plus our 13 ethanol plant partners across Iowa, to advance our project through the regulatory process and support the region’s most important industries – agriculture and ethanol. “
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